When the gig economy escalates to working with The Grim Reaper, a friendship forms that challenges the commodification of death, in Willem Holzer's entertaining promo for John Robert. Move It To The Side opens with the spooky soul collector himself - played by John E. Bongos - signing in to an app called Dead Drops, ready for another shift. However, he has to make a unscheduled stop, when he knocks down a pedestrian and finds himself with an 'unauthorized soul' - that's John Robert, who then joins The Reaper on his shift throughout the rest of the video. Then we have a classic buddy comedy on our hands, with plenty of sight gags - before things turn rather more serious and poignant in the final act. Holzer excels in the storytelling in his mini-movie - and marshalling a pair of excellent performances from the two Johns, Bongos and Robert.If it was Hollywood, they would be lining up a sequel...
Rob Ulitski - 16th Nov 2021